Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 1% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) rose 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $630.00 to $710.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $722.99 and last traded at $722.50. Approximately 277,432 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 2,066,722 shares. The stock had previously closed at $715.46.

COST has been the topic of several other research reports. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $320.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $730.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $664.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

About Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.